The Angel Maker
by noortjen
Summary: Reid goes missing during a case, but when they find him, he isn't the same. Reid-centric, but the rest of the team will be there too :) Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! I haven't written any fanfics in a while, but as I was reading someone else's lovely work, I got inspired to write again, so here I am :) This fic contains no pairings (I think...)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Criminal Minds characters (ha. I wish...)**

**Enjoy! :D**

The sound of his heart beating in his chest drowned out anything else as Morgan followed the two members of the SWAT team down the dimly lit corridors of the abandoned building. One of them turned to the left to clear out another room while Morgan followed the other man down some stairs and into the basement.

It had all happened so fast. They had been called in on a case in Springfield, Massachusetts. Three bodies had been found. All male, their ages ranging from twenty to thirty five. They suspected that the unsub followed his targets before taking them once they were alone, leaving no witnesses and barely, if any, evidence behind.

The first victim, Ethan Young, had been kept for a week. There were bruises on each of the victims' ankles and wrists from where their restraints had been and there were puncture marks on their backs. Although his throat had been slit, the coroner suspected that Young wouldn't have survived long regardless. The tissue around the twenty-four year old medical student's spine had been severely inflamed to the point that his nerves were badly damaged. This caused local paralysis and, if untreated, could have made it impossible for Ethan to breathe on his own.

Will Dawson, the second victim, had been discovered ten days after he got taken from his own apartment. Like Ethan, Dawson's spine was badly inflamed and his nerves were showing increasing amounts of damage. His throat had been slit in a similar way, after which his body was left near the pond in Chicopee Memorial State Park.

Finally, their third victim had been found sixteen days after he had been reported missing. Like each victim, Marcus Hope, a young lawyer, had been dumped at a secluded location with his throat slit. His mother had reported Marcus' as missing after he failed to show up for her birthday dinner. She had heard about the previous murders on the news, Dawson's body having been found not even twenty-four hours before her son had failed to show, and got worried when Marcus didn't answer his phone.

Toxicology reports revealed that the victims had been injected with an unknown substance. Forensic scientists had tried to discover what it was for, but they reluctantly admitted that they had failed to identify the contents of the drug. They had however discovered trace amounts of stem cells, and oddly enough the third victim's scapulae had begun to create small lumps of bone due to the injection of these stem cells.

Having read of a similar case a couple of months ago, Reid had discovered a connection between these murders and four other killings in Belmont, New Hampshire and three more in Portland, Maine. They had been about to deliver the profile when the unexpected had happened.

Reid had volunteered to go and get them their lunch, having easily memorized the map of Springfield as he had been working on the geographical profile. When he still hadn't returned an hour later, Morgan and JJ had gone to the restaurant they had ordered their lunch from, finding the SUV Reid had left in in the parking lot behind the restaurant. It didn't take them long after that to find two bags containing their food abandoned in a small alleyway, but finding Reid's badge, gun and phone in one of those bags had been the reason for them to call in the rest of the team.

With the added pressure of Reid's disappearance, they had delivered the profile, although they bitterly had to admit that it was rather thin. They suspected the unsub to be male, aged forty to fifty. Taking the fact that he had acquired stem cells into consideration made them believe that he worked in a scientific field. They suspected that he used his victims for some sort of experiment and deduced that the man was a narcissist and felt underappreciated in his workplace. He wouldn't hesitate to voice this injustice, which would have likely caused some trouble with his colleagues or superiors.

Despite the incomplete profile, it had taken them another nine agonizing long days before they had come across their suspected unsub Matthew Miles. Matthew was a forty-six year old researcher at Pioneer Valley Institute. According to his colleagues, Miles had started working there only three months ago, when he moved to Springfield. He had apparently complained when one of his superiors had none too friendly rejected one of Miles' theories about the ability to evolve the human body with stem cells and cross species engineering, which had resulted in an argument that threatened to turn physical.

Another colleague of Miles had voiced his concern about the man to one of his superiors once he'd has a discussion with Matthew about the use of human trials. They had strongly disagreed on this subject, with Miles claiming that it was a necessary evil to subject humans to trial drugs. He claimed that these human subjects should be honored, as their sacrifice would allow them to develop their research further.

The thought of Miles using these men as lab rats had made Morgan sick, not to mention furious. This man had taken Reid, had most likely used him for whatever experiment he was working on, and he felt that it was a 'necessary evil'.

Garcia had provided them with Miles' current address. Hotch and JJ had gone there, being closer to the location than Morgan and Rossi were, as they were still on their way back from the clinic. When Hotch contacted them twenty minutes later with the news that neither Miles nor Reid was there, Morgan had stopped the SUV and hurriedly climbed out. Rossi had let him cool down as he rang up Garcia, who desperately tried to find another property owned by their unsub.

Somehow suspecting Miles to be smarter than that, he requested Garcia to widen her search and had her look for any old clinics or buildings that used to be owned by scientific organizations. Garcia finally found an old clinic that was due for demolition in two months on Granby Road. Thanking Garcia and instructing her to let Hotch and JJ know where they were heading, Rossi called out to Morgan, who looked up immediately when he sensed the urgency in Rossi's tone.

It had taken them fifteen minutes to get to the abandoned building on Granby Road. The clinic was larger than they'd suspected, but looked like it was about to fall apart. Rossi had spend ten minutes of their drive convincing Morgan not to run in blindly, but instead wait for the SWAT team that he'd called to arrive on site, and his team mate had reluctantly obliged.

Now that the SWAT team was there, however, Morgan was impatiently tapping his foot, ready to get their missing team member back. As Rossi and Morgan finally positioned themselves at the two entrances, each accompanied by three SWAT team members, time seemed to stop around them.

Morgan nodded at one of the men with him and watched as he picked the lock on the back door. Uncertain if Miles was with Reid or not, they had decided not to alert the man of their arrival yet. They quietly made their way through the corridor, one of them turning right into an old examination room.

Morgan could hear the quiet 'clear' over the radio, followed by Rossi's instructions to check the ground floor and basement while he would cover the top two floors. Morgan continued to follow the remaining two members of his SWAT team, nodding for one of them to turn into the next room while he continued down the hall and towards the basement.

As they were descending the stairs, Morgan could hear Rossi's voice over the radio once more, along with an unfamiliar voice in the background. ''We've got Miles, no sign of Reid yet.'' Aware of his own rage, Morgan was somewhat relieved that he hadn't been the one to find Miles, as he didn't trust himself to act rationally if he had. Hearing the man cursing and demanding his release made his blood boil, but for now all Morgan wanted to do was get Reid back.

Replying a quick 'copy that' to Rossi and having been joined again by the two men of the SWAT team that had cleared out the rooms on the ground floor, he continued down the stairs, wary that Miles might have set traps for unwanted visitors. Not much longer, Morgan found himself facing a surprisingly clean and new metal door with a large lock on it. He bit the inside of his cheek as he nodded at the man in front of him to break the door with the battering ram, his grip on his gun getting tighter.

With one final blow the door swung open to reveal a dark room with a white tiled floor. The three SWAT team members entered the room once they turned on their flashlights, one of the lights stopping on a still figure in the middle of the room. Morgan's heart was in his throat, but he reached out for a light switch and flicked it on regardless.

The lights above them flickered on to reveal a white, sterile room. There was a metal table to the right with medical tools on it, including syringes with a strange substance stocked in small vials standing next to them. On the other side of the room was a gurney, which hadn't been cleaned properly as traces of blood were still evident.

Morgan didn't take in any of it. His eyes were focused on the motionless figure in the middle of the room. His arms were pulled above his head and secured to the ceiling with chains. His shirt, shoes and socks had been removed, leaving him in his black trousers. Despite the man being over 6 foot tall, he was barely touching the floor with his toes, his ankles shackled to the ground. His brown curls were obstructing his eyes from where Morgan was standing, but it was obvious from the way his head was hanging motionlessly that he was unconscious.

They'd found Reid. After ten days, they had finally caught up with the man who had taken one of their own, yet Morgan was frozen in place. He noticed the drops of blood on the ground below Reid, making him wonder if they were too late. Slowly, he took a step into Reid's direction, then another one, until he found himself reaching up in search for a pulse.

Morgan let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding when he felt a pulse underneath his fingertips, although the heat that he felt coming from his friend's skin caused his worry to increase again.

''Reid, can you hear me?'' He asked, receiving no reply. He gently placed a hand on his friend's cheek, for the first time noticing the pained look etched onto Reid's face even though he appeared to be unconscious. Morgan spoke softly, hoping to reassure Reid in case he could hear him. ''We're getting you out of here, kid. You're safe now.''

He noticed that one of the SWAT members was working on getting Reid's arms free. Morgan gently wrapped his arms around Reid's bare torso, only stopping when he felt something odd on Reid's back and noticed his friend's soft whimper.

Pulling his hand away he discovered blood on his fingertips, but that wasn't the only thing he had felt. It was as if something had been attached to Reid's back. Somewhat afraid of what he would find, Morgan slowly walked around Reid to look at his back, but what he found was beyond anything he could have imagined.

**So that's it! The first chapter's done :) I hope you enjoyed reading this and please review, I'd love to get some feedback! Xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! Thank you all very much for the faves and follows, I'm flattered! :)**

**So here's the second chapter to my Criminal Minds fic. The rest of the team makes a bit more of an appearance than before.**

**Please review/fave/follow and enjoy reading this chapter! :) Xx**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Criminal Minds characters.**

This couldn't be real. Morgan stared at Reid's back for what felt like an eternity, demanding his eyes to stop playing tricks on him. Reid's back was bloody and the skin was painfully red and swollen. However, the reason for Reid's back to be bloody had Morgan stunned silent, because there, from his shoulder blades, protruded a pair of wings.

They were no more than a foot and a half long, resting limply against his back. The feathers were a bloody mess and the skin around the wings seemed even more inflamed than the rest of the agent's back.

Morgan suddenly registered the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and he realised that he had been too shocked to call anything in. Fortunately, the SWAT team members had been there with him and had requested paramedics as well as called in their findings. Morgan jumped slightly when Rossi called out his name, looking at him questioningly.

''Are you alright?'' Rossi asked while he holstered his gun and took the few steps into the agent's direction. Morgan tried to find the words to voice his feelings, but nothing came out. Rossi was about to ask Morgan again when his attention got drawn back to one of the members of the SWAT team.

''Holy-!'' The man gasped. Rossi turned his head and for the first time noticed what they had been staring at.

''That's new.'' He commented dryly, masking his own surprise at seeing the new appendages on the youngest member of their team. Now he knew why Morgan had looked like he'd just seen a ghost. He noticed the SWAT team member that was working on getting Reid down was nearly finished with the shackles.

''Come on,'' He said calmly to Morgan, placing a gentle hand on the man's arm and waiting for him to look him in the eye. ''Let's get him down. ''

Morgan nodded, taking a deep breath to compose himself before he moved to one side of Reid. Rossi walked around him and carefully placed a hand on Reid's hip, another on his right arm. Morgan did the same on Reid's left side, and they gently lowered him to the ground once his arms became free.

They carefully placed him on his side, trying not to aggravate the pain in Reid's back, although the only reaction they got from their friend was a soft gasp. They placed Reid's head to rest on Morgan's lap, after which Rossi asked about the paramedics ETA.

''They're coming down now, sir.'' Jackson Barry, one of the members of the SWAT team, announced as he worked to free Reid's ankles. He instructed one of his team members to go upstairs and meet the paramedics. Meanwhile, Rossi had taken off his jacket and carefully draped it over Reid's torso, effectively hiding the wings. Morgan looked up at him and Rossi gave a small smile.

''It might be best if we keep those covered for the time being.'' He explained softly, referring to the wings. Morgan gave a weak smile in return.

The paramedics arrived downstairs and Rossi stood up to speak to them. He explained the situation and requested them to be discreet. Though the younger paramedic seemed a bit skeptical at first, but that quickly got replaced with a look of utter shock once they lifted Rossi's jacket to assess Reid's injuries. The more seasoned paramedic remained calm and objective, for which both Morgan and Rossi were grateful. They placed him onto a gurney once the shackles on his ankles had been removed and carried him upstairs and out the door where the ambulance was waiting.

Morgan was too focused on Reid to notice Miles screaming from the back of the police car. Rossi watched him from the corner of his eye as Miles kicked the seats in front of him in frustration, screaming for them to let him finish his research. Enraged by the man's actions, Rossi forced himself to focus on getting his friend treated.

''You go with Reid,'' He instructed Morgan, who was already climbing into the ambulance without Rossi's say so. ''I'll wait here for Hotch and JJ, we'll follow you as soon as we're done here.''

Rossi watched as the ambulance drove away from the scene and noticed another SUV pulling up to the crime scene. JJ and Hotch climbed out of the car, glancing back at the ambulance that just left before walking up to Rossi.

''How is he?'' Hotch asked, assuming that the ambulance had carried their missing agent.

''He ehm-'' Rossi paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain their situation. ''He had a bad fever and the skin on his back appeared rather inflamed.'' He began, deciding that he'd first explain what they would be familiar with. ''He wasn't conscious when we found him.''

Hotch nodded his understanding. He hesitated momentarily before he decided to ask what he and JJ had been wondering about before.

''Do we know what he was trying to achieve?'' He asked, remembering how their profile suggested that he considered his victims to be no more than lab rats. Hotch didn't want to let his mind reel over the possible experiments Miles could have been performing.

''Yeah… We have a pretty good idea.'' Rossi answered slowly, the expression on his face leaving Hotch and JJ puzzled.

-oOo-

Morgan was sitting in the waiting room at the ER, his head lowered and his elbows resting on his knees. Reid had been taken into a room for examination and the nurse had stood her ground when she didn't allow Morgan into the room with him. They had been informed of the unusual case and a select group of staff had been chosen to deal with Reid's injuries in an attempt to keep things quiet.

Rossi had called Morgan for an update after they had finished at the crime scene. The small group of CSU and SWAT members had been ordered to keep anything they discovered a secret. They had found countless logs and video recordings of the experiment in the large examination room in which they had found Miles working on his records. It became apparent that Miles had been going at it for much longer than they had suspected, having found records that dated back as far as six years ago.

Another thing that was painstakingly evident in the room was the amount of drawings of biblical figures: angels in particular. Miles seemed to be obsessed with theories of human evolution. Rossi suspected that the man had been raised in a strongly religious family and had become conflicted between his beliefs and his scientific interests.

Rossi told Morgan that they were currently on their way to the hospital, despite the fact that there was no update from Morgan's side. Rossi had briefed Hotch and JJ on what had happened, but none of them knew exactly how bad it was. They didn't know what kind of complications would have been caused by the experiments Miler had performed.

Hotch, Rossi and JJ had joined Morgan in the waiting room, and for another three hours they received no word whatsoever on Reid's status. Finally, a doctor walked into the room along with the nurse who had ordered agent Morgan to take a seat in the waiting room.

''Are you here for Dr. Reid?'' The doctor, who appeared to be in his early fifties, asked them politely. He scanned around the room with hazel eyes that stood out against his short, dark brown hair.

''How is he?'' Hotch repeated the question he'd asked Rossi before, being the first person to get up from his seat.

''We have started him on antibiotics to help him fight off the infection.'' Doctor Lorenzo began calmly, looking at all the agents standing in front of him. ''The tissue around his spine is quite badly inflamed, but so far he has avoided any permanent damage to it or the nerves around it as far as we can tell.''

A sigh of relief could be heard throughout the room. Reid would live, they were almost entirely certain now.

''What about the, ehm…'' JJ let the sentence trail off, knowing that everyone in the room would understand what she was referring to.

''We have taken some X-rays, and it appears that the wings are in fact attached to his scapulae. It is almost as if they have always been there.'' Doctor Lorenzo continued. ''I truly haven't seen anything like it, whoever did this had to know what they were doing.''

''Can they be removed?'' Rossi asked next, ignoring the doctor's faint admiration for the 'work' that had been done to their colleague.

''At the moment, no. The skin around the wings is far too inflamed and the risk of complications would be too great.'' The man explained matter-of-factly. ''We'd have to wait for at least a couple of weeks before we consider it.''

Hotch nodded his thank you before Morgan spoke up for the first time in over three hours.

''Can we see him?'' He inquired, making the others look at the doctor expectantly. The man sighed, turning to the nurse who had been standing next to him quietly.

''Could you guide them to Dr. Reid's room?'' The nurse nodded in response. ''However, I will not allow you to stay for too long. He needs his rest.''

They all nodded in agreement and then continued to follow the nurse down the hallway. The nurse brought them to a private room which had been arranged for Reid to keep anyone else from seeing the wings. They stood in silence at the sight in front of them.

Reid was resting on his side, his back turned away from them. Although they were glad that they couldn't yet see the extra appendages from here, seeing Reid lying motionlessly and attached to machinery was just as bad. His chest was rising and falling slowly, a nasal cannula helping him breathe. His cheeks were slightly flushed from the fever, the pink shade standing out against his otherwise pale skin. An IV with antibiotics and NSAIDs was attached to the back of his hand.

Hotch was the first one to walk into the room. Once he reached the end of the bed, he couldn't help but look at the wings on Reid's back. The feathers were a light brown, some almost a creamy white. They were resting limply from his shoulder blades and were no bigger than a barn owl's wings would be. Hotch felt the strange urge to touch them, to confirm that they were actually there and that they were in fact attached to the youngest member of his team, but he fought the temptation.

JJ and Rossi had been the next to join Hotchner at the bed . JJ, also seeing the wings for the first time, gasped softly, her eyes glassy with tears. She whispered a soft 'oh Spence' and settled in the seat next to the bed, gently taking his hand into hers to hold.

Although he had been the one to find his best friend, Morgan struggled internally to move closer to the bed. He felt as if he had failed Reid. He knew Reid would scold him if he ever voiced his guilt, but he couldn't help it. Reid was the youngest one on their team, and he had made a silent promise to himself that he would always protect his friend from harm after they'd gotten him back from Tobias Hankle. He had failed to do so on more than one occasion, and each time Morgan had beaten himself up about it, wondering what it was about the genius that made him a magnet for trouble.

The last time Reid had given them a scare like this was when he had been shot in the neck saving Blake, which had been little over six months ago. The small scar on his neck was a daily reminder for all of them that their jobs could one day cost them their lives, but how were they supposed to deal with this? This was beyond their training, beyond anything any one of them deemed possible.

Morgan felt oddly relieved when his phone buzzed in his trousers and excused himself, quickly walking to the end of the corridor and out of the door. He pulled his still buzzing phone out of his pocket and realised that his relief had been short lived. He closed his eyes and huffed wearily, fully aware that he couldn't deny the call.

''Hey baby girl.'' He said half-heartedly, wincing and pulling the phone slightly away from his ear when he heard Garcia's frantic reply.

''Don't 'baby girl' me, hot stuff,'' She scolded, bringing a small smile to Morgan's face as she still used a nickname for him. ''I provide you and Rossi with an address where this twisted man might be holding our Reid and then I don't hear from any of you for four hours! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!''

Morgan put the phone back to his ear once he thought Garcia was finished her rant.

''I'm sorry, I should have called you.'' Morgan apologized, pinching the bridge of his nose. ''It's been a long day for all of us. We got Miles.''

''Did you find Reid? How is my junior G-man? Is he ok?'' Garcia rambled nervously, having been kept in the dark for longer than she would have liked.

''We found Reid. He's alive.'' Morgan began, hearing Garcia's sigh of relief. He swallowed nervously. He knew he had to tell her what had happened, but how on earth did you go about explaining that one of your friends had grown wings in the ten days he had been missing?

''Morgan?'' He heard the anxiety in her voice as she awaited an update. Morgan sat down on a nearby bench and ran a hand over his face.

''It's a long story, baby girl…''

**There ya go, all but Garcia have seen the wings! I will upload the next chapter as soon as possible, so please keep an eye out for it :) Thanks for reading my fanfic Xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! So yeah... I have kind of been writing non-stop since I finished chapter two, so here's another chapter for you all! Thank you very much for the views/favourites/follows/reviews, I truly appreciate it :) It may take me a little while longer to post the next chapter as I have a lot planned for the next week, but I'll try my best to update ASAP. Enjoy, and please feel free to provide me with feedback!**

**Disclaimer: Although I truly adore every one of them, I do not own any of the Criminal Minds characters.**

Despite his reluctance to look even remotely in the direction of the wings, Morgan had been the one to volunteer when the doctor allowed one agent to remain behind while the others finished up the case. Hotch had asked him more than once if he was sure that he wanted to stay, but Morgan had assured him that it was better if he didn't go anywhere near Matthew Miles. He knew the type well enough to know that Miles couldn't care less about the lives he'd taken, that he didn't mind using human beings for his own benefit, and that thought made Morgan's stomach churn.

He had smiled sadly when he'd eaten a jell-o one of the nurses brought him the next morning, the nurse being unaware of the sentimental value a simple tub of jell-o held for him. He sat in the chair next to the bed that JJ had previously sat in, the wings conveniently hidden behind Reid's body.

Scooping the last of the jell-o onto his spoon, Morgan got up and turned to throw the tub in the bin on the other side of the room. He tossed the plastic spoon in after it and turned back around, his eyes widening in surprise.

Reid's eyes were squinted shut, a soft whimper passing the younger agent's lips. With three large steps Morgan was at his side, pressing the button to call for a nurse.

''Reid?'' He asked carefully, as if his voice could somehow hurt his friend. He gingerly took Reid's hand into his own, watching his face expectantly. ''Reid, do you hear me?''

Slowly, Reid's eyes opened slightly, but his eyelids felt too heavy. It took him a few more attempts, encouraged by the agent at the side of his bed, before his eyes fluttered open. Reid blinked against the bright lights above him, and for a moment he was back in that sterile white room, chained to the ceiling and injected with a substance that made his back feel like it was on fire.

The agonizing pain in his back was still there, albeit a lot milder than it had felt before, and the fact that he was lying, not hanging, on a soft mattress made him look around the room a bit better. His gaze finally rested on the man who was leaning over his bed, looking at him hopefully.

''Morgan?'' He croaked, his voice soft and his throat dry. He watched as a smile pulled at his friend's lips, his shoulders slumping slightly with relief.

''Hey there, kid.'' Morgan replied gently, squeezing Reid's hand slightly. ''Good to see you awake.''

A nurse politely asked Morgan to move aside as she approached the bed, followed by a man with stunning hazel eyes.

''It's good to see you awake, Dr. Reid.'' The man smiled friendly, unknowingly repeating Morgan's words. ''My name is Dr. Lorenzo, I have been taking care of you. Could you tell me how much you remember about what happened to you?''

Reid's gaze shifted slightly as he tried to remember everything that had happened. ''I remember going out to get lunch…'' He began, licking his dry lips. ''Then suddenly I woke up in a white room. I was chained to the ceiling and he-'' Reid closed his eyes as the man's words started coming back to him. Human trials. Genetic engineering. Evolution. Angels.

''He was trying to 'evolve' humans into divine creatures.'' Reid murmured barely audible, his face losing what little colour it possessed. ''He tested this drug he had been developing on me.''

Reid moaned softly as his back began to ache worse, his brain suddenly registering an unfamiliar sensation. Morgan watched as the wings on Reid's back twitched slightly, making Reid gasp. Reid's eyes widened and he looked at both Morgan and doctor Lorenzo for answers, finding them in their silence.

''He succeeded?'' Reid rasped, suddenly sounding like a frightened child. Morgan's heart was in his throat as pleading eyes looked up at him once again.

''We'll figure this out, Reid…'' Morgan assured him softly, uncertain what else he could say. Finding Reid with wings had been shocking for him, but he had never stopped to consider Reid's reaction to waking up with too many body parts.

''He's right.'' Doctor Lorenzo backed Morgan up, thankfully drawing Reid's eyes away from his friend's. ''However, we'll have to wait for the inflammation around the wings to go away before we can explore our options, and until then we'll monitor your health closely.''

Reid nodded silently, his gaze shifting again until he was staring nowhere in particular. He barely noted when the nurse gave him another dose of pain killers, nor did he fully register when doctor Lorenzo instructed him to let them know if he experienced any significant pain or other changes.

Closing his eyes, Reid became painfully aware of the appendages that protruded from his scapulae. Although the painkillers helped, Reid could clearly feel a part of his body that hadn't been there before, and it frightened him.

''Reid?'' Morgan mumbled hesitantly, settling in the chair next to the agent's bed once again. Morgan felt his stomach drop when Reid opened his eyes and smiled at him sadly, his hands trembling faintly.

''I'm okay…'' Reid murmured barely coherent. ''I just- need some time, I guess.''

Morgan nodded his understanding and gently squeezed Reid's hand again in an attempt to put his friend at ease. He waited for the younger agent to fall back asleep before he let go, getting up from his seat and quietly leaving the room. Once outside, Morgan pulled out his phone and dialed Hotch's number.

''Everything ok?'' Hotch asked the second he answered the phone, having read the caller ID.

''Yeah…'' Morgan began, slipping his free hand into his pocket. ''Reid woke up a little while ago. He appears to be doing well, considering, and just went back to sleep.''

''That's good news.'' The relief in his boss' voice was obvious, which somehow managed to reassure Morgan that everything would be alright eventually. ''We got a confession out of Miles. He gladly told us all about his 'research'. Even if he hadn't confessed, the evidence against him is far too strong.'' There was a brief silence during which Morgan could almost hear Hotch thinking. ''He filmed the entire process, including the murders.''

Morgan growled in frustration as he thought back of Tobias Hankle. Hankle had filmed and forced them to watch as Reid had been tortured, and now Reid had once again been subjected to another deranged unsub with an obsession for the divine.

''How is he coping?'' Hotch's question pulled him out of his thoughts. Although Reid had said that he had been fine, Morgan would be foolish to think that he was ok with what he had gone through.

''He says he needs time.'' Morgan explained reluctantly. He could almost visualize Hotch's curtly nod to his answer.

''We'll help him get through this together.'' Hotch confirmed what had been obvious to Morgan. ''He's not alone.''

-oOo-

Nearly a week had passed since Reid had woken up, and the inflammation in his back had decreased significantly. The pain, however, had remained, as the doctor discovered that the wings were growing rather rapidly. Each wing was now almost twice as big as it had been, resulting in a wingspan of five feet, and judging by the pained expression on Reid's face, they weren't done growing yet.

''Can't you do anything for him?'' Hotch pleaded softly as he glanced back at the bed, where JJ allowed Reid to squeeze her hand as he braved through another wave of pain.

''We have to wait for the inflammation to be gone completely.'' The doctor admitted regretfully, having taken pity on the young agent. ''I could perform some tests now to get a better understanding as to how the wings are attached to the rest of his body, but surgery will have to wait.''

Hotch pursed his lips and quietly returned to Reid's side. They had finished the paperwork and had left Miles in the custody of the Springfield police department, but Hotch had argued with their superiors to allow them to stay with their injured agent. Garcia had finally won her argument with the higher ups yesterday evening, and Morgan was picking her up from the airport right now to bring her back to visit Reid.

Despite the pain, Reid had agreed on the tests to see how much his new body parts actually functioned. With the curtains and door closed to keep anyone from seeing anything, doctor Lorenzo first had him move his arms, which Reid did despite the stabs of pain running through his back. They discovered that the wings didn't move with the arms, so they moved onto the next stage. The doctor asked Reid if he wanted to try and move the wings. Reid had obliged and tried to focus on the strange feeling in his back, gasping in pain the moment his wings spread behind his back. They slowly moved back to their previous position, folded softly against his back, as Reid tried to catch his breath.

JJ and Hotch watched silently as the wings briefly folded open to the sides. So far, they had been told that there was a better chance of removing the wings if they didn't actually function, but that option was clearly out of the window. JJ mothered over Reid when he lay back down on his side, brushing a curl off his forehead as he took deep breaths against the pain. The nurse injected another dose of painkillers into the IV and then left them all to their privacy.

Hotch was relieved to see that Reid was actually coping rather well with the situation. After he had gotten over the initial shock of waking up with wings growing out of his back, Reid had reassured them that he was still their Reid by blurting out information about the common human fascination with wings. Rossi had finally ended the ramblings when Reid was about to calculate the wingspan that would be required to allow a person to fly.

He had to admit, though, that Reid's first rant had been true. Hotch had caught himself staring at the wings on more than one occasion. JJ had come to her earlier that week in tears. She confessed that she had been mesmerized by the wings, and had deemed it an awful thought whenever she reminded herself of how Reid had come to get the extra appendages.

Somehow, Hotch suspected that Reid was aware of JJ's feelings, which was why he had started his ramblings about how natural it was for humans to be fascinated by the thought of having wings. It was his subtle way of assuring them that he didn't blame any of them for looking, and it had clearly helped, as everyone seemed to relax a little around the agent again.

Perhaps it had also therefore helped Reid. Although he seemed to be coping well, it was painstakingly obvious that the younger agent was more self-conscious than before. It wasn't very surprising, but it clearly hadn't helped him that the majority of the team had walked on eggshells around him these last few days. What Reid needed was a sense of normality, and Hotch was more than happy to provide that.

Before any of them registered what happened, a flurry of bright colours and clicking heels rushed past Hotch and towards the edge of the bed. Garcia stopped herself from pulling Reid into a hug once she saw the feathery appendages on his back, instead her eyes widened and she looked at him with a mix of awe and anxiety.

''How are you feeling, sweetie?'' She began, rambling on without giving him a chance to reply. ''I have been so worried, they didn't allow me to leave until I had finished every case that I had been helping on and then my flight got delayed and I spilled coffee on my shirt and there was this filthy man stinking next to me on the plane and oh god can I touch them?''

''Garcia!'' Morgan scolded the moment he walked in, though he stopped and turned to see Reid laughing in bed, a pained expression on his face.

''Ow! God, that hurts..'' He half groaned, half laughed, taking a deep breath before he opened his eyes again to look up at Garcia. ''Sorry for making you worry like that Garcia. And ehm… Yeah, ok.''

''Reid, are you sure you're ok with that?'' Hotch asked hesitantly, not wanting Reid to allow anything he didn't feel comfortable with.

''I guess.'' Came Reid's calm reply, surprising his team. ''I mean- I don't exactly like how I got them, but I am a scientist. How often do you come across a person with wings? It's only natural to be curious.'' He smiled shyly. ''Besides, it's only temporary, right?''

Morgan was amazed by Reid's rational response. He would have freaked out if he had been in Reid's position, yet his friend seemed to have almost come to terms with it. There was a sense of truth in what Reid said that helped Morgan feel less awkward about it all as well.

Everyone watched as Garcia hesitantly hovered her hand over the wings, then gently let her fingers brush the feathers. She pulled her hand away as if she had burned herself when the wings twitched, not having expected the movement.

''I'm sorry, did I hurt you?'' She asked nervously.

''No,'' Reid replied honestly, albeit awkwardly. A blush crept up his neck. ''They're more… sensitive than I thought. It tickled.''

Garcia couldn't help the small smirk that made the corners of her lips curl up.

''They're very soft.'' She commented, chuckling slightly when Reid blushed and smiled faintly.

Watching Garcia and Reid talking, JJ couldn't help herself anymore.

''Reid?'' She began, waiting for him to look at her. ''Do you think I could also…''

Reid thought for a second, but eventually nodded his consent. JJ got up from where she had been sitting and slowly let her hand slide down the feathers, her gaze fixed on the wings.

''They really are soft…'' She breathed, also pulling her hand away when the wings twitched again. ''Sorry.'' She apologized awkwardly.

Reid shook his head. ''It's ok.'' He assured her, getting her to smile again.

''Huh, maybe I should get myself a pair of wings too.'' Rossi quipped, stepping into the room to find Garcia and JJ carefully stroking the feathers, cautious not to tickle Reid too much. They all looked into his direction, a smirk gracing the man's face. Hotch couldn't help but mirror the smile. It wasn't exactly the 'normality' he'd been hoping for, but Reid seemed more at ease than before, and that, to him, was worth it.

**And that's the end of yet another chapter. I decided to finish this one on a slightly lighter tone, I needed to give Reid (and the team) a little break. Thank you all for reading! xxx**


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